Method, medium, and system for quality aware discovery supression

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are various embodiments for a search result suppression application. A search result suppression application selects items from an electronic catalog. Suppression rules are selected and applied to the selected items. Items which meet conditions defined in the suppression rules are excluded from search results responsive to search queries subsequently applied to the electronic catalog.

BACKGROUND

Search engines allow users to discover items in an electronic catalog.Problems arise when catalog entries returned in search results lackimportant information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood withreference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings arenot necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in thedrawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a drawing of a networked environment according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are drawings of examples of user interfaces rendered bya client in the networked environment of FIG. 1 according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating one example of functionalityimplemented as portions of an item suppression application executed in acomputing device in the networked environment of FIG. 1 according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating one example of functionalityimplemented as portions of a search engine application executed in acomputing device in the networked environment of FIG. 1 according tovarious embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram that provides one exampleillustration of a computing device employed in the networked environmentof FIG. 1 according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed are various embodiments of a quality aware discoverysuppression application. Search engines are used in electronic commercesystems to facilitate the discovery of products within an electroniccatalog. Catalog entries within the electronic commerce system storeinformation relating to a product to inform potential customers. In someinstances, a catalog entry may be missing information important to thepotential customer. This may decrease the likelihood of the customerinitiating a purchase, or increase the likelihood the customer will bedissatisfied with the product if purchased. As a non-limiting example, acatalog entry for a diamond engagement ring may be missing informationon the weight or quality of the jewel. As another non-limiting example,a catalog entry for a blue shirt may be missing a picture. By enforcingrules related to the catalog entries the appearance of such items insearch results may be suppressed to increase the likelihood the customerwill make an informed and satisfactory purchase.

By suppressing items missing important information or likely to resultin an unsatisfied customer, items which are more likely to be purchasedreceive a greater visibility in search results. This results inincreased revenue opportunities for the merchant, as well as an improvedperception of the merchant by the customer by only presenting the mostrelevant and satisfactory items.

In the following discussion, a general description of the system and itscomponents is provided, followed by a discussion of the operation of thesame.

With reference to FIG. 1, shown is a networked environment 100 accordingto various embodiments. The networked environment 100 includes acomputing device 101, a client device 104, and a merchant client device105 connected by a network 107. The network 107 includes, for example,the Internet, intranets, extranets, wide area networks (WANs), localarea networks (LANs), wired networks, wireless networks, or othersuitable networks, etc., or any combination of two or more suchnetworks.

The computing device 101 may comprise, for example, a server computer orany other system providing computing capability. Alternatively, aplurality of computing devices 101 may be employed that are arranged,for example, in one or more server banks or computer banks or otherarrangements. For example, a plurality of computing devices 101 togethermay comprise a cloud computing resource, a grid computing resource,and/or any other distributed computing arrangement. Such computingdevices 101 may be located in a single installation or may bedistributed among many different geographical locations. For purposes ofconvenience, the computing device 101 is referred to herein in thesingular. Even though the computing device is referred to in thesingular, it is understood that a plurality of computing devices 101 maybe employed in the various arrangements as described above.

Various applications and/or other functionality may be executed in thecomputing device 101 according to various embodiments. Also, variousdata is stored in a data store 111 that is accessible to the computingdevice 101. The data store 111 may be representative of a plurality ofdata stores as can be appreciated. The data stored in the data store111, for example, is associated with the operation of the variousapplications and/or functional entities described below.

The components executed on the computing device 101, for example,include an electronic commerce system 113, and other applications,services, processes, systems, engines, or functionality not discussed indetail herein.

The electronic commerce system 113 is executed in order to facilitatethe online purchase of items 130 over the network 125 The electroniccommerce system 113 also performs various backend functions associatedwith the online presence of a merchant in order to facilitate the onlinepurchase of items 130 as will be described. For example, the electroniccommerce system 113 communicates with the network page serverapplication 124 to generate network pages such as web pages or othertypes of network content that are provided to client devices 104 for thepurposes of selecting items for purchase, rental, download, lease, orother form of consumption as will be described.

The electronic commerce system 113 may comprise subcomponents includinga search engine application 114, an item suppression application 117, anetwork page server application 124, a search index 136, and othersubcomponents. The search engine application 114 is executed to apply asearch query 125 to the electronic catalog 127 and generate a searchresult 126 comprising items 130 responsive to the search query 125. Asearch index 136 comprises an index, data structure, or other datarelating to the electronic catalog 127 which is accessed by the searchengine application 114 in order to facilitate the search process. Thesearch index 136 may also be stored in the data store 111, operate as asubcomponent of another entity.

The item suppression application 117 applies suppression rules 133 toitems 130 stored within the electronic catalog 127. Items 130 which donot comply with suppression rules 133 are excluded from search results126 generated by the search engine application 114. The network pageserver application 124 encodes network pages and communicates thosenetwork pages to the client device 104. In the alternative, content maybe sent in a form other than via network pages (data to a local app).

The data stored in the data store 111 includes, for example, theelectronic catalog 127, suppression rules 133, and potentially otherdata. The electronic catalog 127 comprises multiple electronic catalogentries corresponding to items 130 available for purchase through theelectronic commerce system 113, and potentially other data. Suppressionrules 133 define conditions for items 130 that, when met, result in theitem 130 being suppressed from search results 126 generated by thesearch engine application 114.

The client device 104 is representative of a plurality of client devicesthat may be coupled to the network 107 The client device 104 maycomprise, for example, a processor-based system such as a computersystem. Such a computer system may be embodied in the form of a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant, a cellulartelephone, set-top box, music players, web pads, tablet computersystems, game consoles, or other devices with like capability.

The client device 104 may be configured to execute various applicationssuch as a browser 139 and/or other applications. The browser 139 may beexecuted in a client device 104 for example, to access and rendernetwork pages, such as web pages, or other network content served up bythe computing device 101 and/or other servers. The client device 104 maybe configured to execute applications beyond browser 139 such as, forexample, email applications, instant message applications, and/or otherapplications.

The merchant client device 105 is representative of a plurality ofclient devices that may be coupled to the network 107 and used bymerchants to interact with the electronic commerce system 113. Themerchant client device 105 may comprise, for example, a processor-basedsystem such as a computer system. Such a computer system may be embodiedin the form of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a personal digitalassistant, a cellular telephone, set-top box, music players, web pads,tablet computer systems, game consoles, or other devices with likecapability.

The merchant client device 105 may be configured to execute variousapplications such as a browser 140 and/or other applications. Thebrowser 140 may be executed in a merchant client device 105 for example,to access and render network pages, such as web pages, or other networkcontent served up by the computing device 101 and/or other servers. Themerchant client device 105 may be configured to execute applicationsbeyond browser 140 such as, for example, email applications, instantmessage applications, and/or other applications

Next, a general description of the operation of the various componentsof the networked environment 100 is provided. To begin, item suppressionapplication 117 selects at least one item 130 from the electroniccatalog 127. The item 130 may be selected as a function of user input,by a process or service executed on the computing device 101, or by someother approach. Next, the item suppression application 117 selects atleast one suppression rule 133 to apply to the selected item 130. Thoughthe selected item 130 and selected suppression rule 133 will be referredto in the singular, it is understood that multiple items 130 andsuppression rules 133 may be selected. The suppression rule 133 may beselected based on an item category or merchant associated with an item130, or based on other associations or requirements. Suppression rules133 may also be applicable to the entire corpus of items 130 storedwithin electronic catalog 127, a subset of the corpus of items 130, orsome other classification of items 130.

Suppression rules 133 define conditions which, when met, indicate anitem 130 should be suppressed from search results 126. In someembodiments, the suppression rule 133 may require some characteristic orattribute of the item 130 be disclosed. In other embodiments, thesuppression rule 133 may define a threshold or range for a value,metric, statistic, or function calculated with respect to the item 130.Other conditions may be defined in suppression rule 133.

For example, in embodiments where the suppression rule 133 requires acharacteristic or attribute of the item 130 to be disclosed, thesuppression rule 133 may require that a wedding ring item 130 disclosethe weight and color of the jewel in the wedding ring. As anotherexample, where item 130 is a blue shirt, the suppression rule 133 mayrequire that the item 130 disclose an image of the shirt. Otherattributes or characteristics may also be used in suppression rules 133.

In embodiments where a suppression rule 133 considers a range orthreshold for a value, the suppression rule 133 may define a maximumthreshold for product returns associated with the item 130. In anotherexample, where customers have the ability to file complaints about anitem 130 with or without purchasing the item 130, the suppression rule133 may define a maximum threshold for complaints associated with theitem. As an additional example, the suppression rule 133 may define aminimum ratio of network page views associated with the item 133compared to purchases of the item 133. Other values, metrics, functions,or statistics may be considered in a suppression rule 133.

Once the suppression rule 133 to be applied to the item 130 has beenselected by the item suppression application 117, the item suppressionapplication 117 applies the suppression rule 133 to the item 130. Thisis performed by determining if the item 130 meets the conditions forsuppression defined in the suppression rule 133. In embodiments wherethe suppression rule 133 requires an item 130 to disclose an attribute,the item suppression application 117 determines if the item 130 containsthe required information. In embodiments where the suppression rule 133defines a maximum threshold amount for a value associated with the item133, the item suppression application 117 determines the value bycalculating the value, retrieving a stored precalculated value, or someother means, and determines if the value is below the threshold. Othermethods or techniques of applying suppression rules 133 to an item 130may be used.

If the item suppression application 117 determines that item 130requires suppression, the item suppression application 117 excludes theitem 130 from search results 126 responsive to a search query 125 inputto the search engine application 114. In some embodiments, thiscomprises modifying or configuring a search index 136 associated withthe electronic catalog 127. In other embodiments, this comprisesmodifying an attribute or flag associated with the item 130. Forexample, item 130 may be stored as a database entry with a columnrepresenting a suppressed status. In this example, the item suppressionapplication 117 modifies the column of the database entry to indicatethe item 130 has been suppressed. Other methods of excluding an item 130may be accomplished. A suppressed item 130 may also be excluded fromcustomer recommendations, email campaigns, promotions, and otherlistings of products communicated to a client device 104.

In some embodiments, the item suppression application 117 maycommunicate a notification 137 to a merchant client device 105accessible to a merchant associated with the item 130 in response to adetermination that the item 130 requires suppression. In someembodiments, the merchant is selected from a plurality of merchantsbased on predefined criteria. The notification 137 may also becommunicated to other entities.

The contents of the notification 137 express to the merchant that theitem 130 has been suppressed. The notification 137 may also express areasoning as to why the item 130 has been suppressed. In otherembodiments, the notification 137 may express a suggestion as to actionsthe merchant may take to prevent future suppression of the item 130. Thenotification 137 may also express other information.

Client device 104 may execute browser 139 to interact with an electroniccommerce system 113. Other methods of interacting with the electroniccommerce system 113 may also be used. Electronic commerce system 113serves network pages to the client device 104 by interacting with anetwork page server application 124 and a search engine application 114.The client device 104 may submit search queries 125 to the search engineapplication 114 through a network page, or through other means. Thesearch engine application 114 applies the search query 125 to theelectronic catalog 127 to generate a search result 126. A suppresseditem 130 will be excluded from the search results 126. The searchresults 126 are then encoded into one or more network pages served tothe client device 104 by network page server application 124.

Referring next to FIG. 2, shown is a non-limiting example user interfacerendering network pages served by network page server application 124(FIG. 1). FIG. 2A depicts a network page representing an item 130(FIG. 1) stored in the electronic catalog 127 (FIG. 1). The item title201 indicates the item 130 is a size 7 engagement ring. Item description204 comprises many attributes relating to the setting and jewel of thering. In this example, the jewel weight of the item 130 is unavailable.Placeholder 207 occupies the area where a picture of the ring would berendered if available. In this example, a suppression rule 133 (FIG. 1)may be associated with an engagement ring item category which requiresthat a jewel weight be disclosed in the item 130. Also, a suppressionrule 133 (FIG. 1) may be associated with a jewelry item category whichrequires an image be disclosed in the item 130. Item suppressionapplication 117 (FIG. 1) would suppress this item 130 from searchresults 126 (FIG. 1).

FIG. 2B depicts a network page soliciting input for a search query 125(FIG. 1). When a submit button 211 is pressed, the search query 125 isinput to the search engine application 114 (FIG. 1), generating searchresults 126 (FIG. 1). Search results 126 are then encoded into a networkpage as a search result list 214. It is noted that in this example thesearch query 125 is a substring of the item title 201 shown in FIG. 2A.The item 130 of FIG. 2A is not present in the search result list 214despite the similarities between the search query 125 and the item title211 due to the item 130 having been suppressed.

Turning now to FIG. 3, shown is a flowchart that provides one example ofthe operation of a portion of the item suppression application 117(FIG. 1) according to various embodiments. It is understood that theflowchart of FIG. 3 provides merely an example of the many differenttypes of functional arrangements that may be employed to implement theoperation of the portion of the item suppression application 117 asdescribed herein. As an alternative, the flowchart of FIG. 3 may beviewed as depicting an example of steps of a method implemented in thecomputing device 101 (FIG. 1) according to one or more embodiments.

Beginning with box 301, a plurality of items 130 (FIG. 1) is selectedfrom an electronic catalog 127 (FIG. 1). In some embodiments, this isaccomplished as a function of user input. In other embodiments, this isaccomplished by iterating through the entirety or a subset of the corpusof the electronic catalog 127. In further embodiments, the plurality ofitems 130 is selected as a function of predefined criteria or based on acategory designation. The plurality of items 130 may also be selectedrandomly. Other approaches may be used to select the plurality of items130.

In box 304, the item suppression application 117 selects a plurality ofsuppression rules 133 (FIG. 1) to apply to each item 130 in theplurality of items 130. In this example embodiment, the suppressionrules 133 (FIG. 1) are selected for each item 130 based on an itemcategory associated with the item 130. For example, if an item 130 is ashirt, the item suppression application 117 selects suppression rules133 for the “clothing” item category. Other methods may be used toselect the suppression rules 133.

In box 307, the item suppression application 117 identifies items 130 tobe suppressed by applying the suppression rules 133 to the plurality ofitems 130. In some embodiments, this involves determining if anattribute or characteristic is defined in the items 130. For example, ifa suppression rule 133 for the jewelry item category requiring jewelweight is applied to an engagement ring item 130, the item suppressionapplication determines if the engagement ring item 130 discloses therequired jewel weight. In other embodiments, this involves determiningif an image is associated with the item 130. In further embodiments,applying the suppression rules 133 involves retrieving or calculating avalue associated with the item 130 and determining if it exceeds amaximum threshold. For example, if a suppression rule 133 for theelectronics item category defines a maximum allowable product returnrate of 10% and is applied to a DVD player item 130, the itemsuppression application retrieves or calculates the product return ratefor the DVD player item 130 to determine if it exceeds the 10%threshold. Other methods of applying suppression rules 133 may also beused.

In box 311, the identified items 130 to be suppressed are excluded fromsearch results 126 (FIG. 1) generated by the search engine application114 (FIG. 1). In some embodiments, this is accomplished by modifying orconfiguring a search index 136 (FIG. 1) associated with the electroniccatalog 127 which is accessed by the search engine application 114. Inother embodiments, this is accomplished by modifying an attributeassociated with the item 130. For example, a database entrycorresponding to the item 130 may have an attribute indicating whetherthe item 130 is suppressed. The item suppression application 117 maymodify the attribute value to indicate the item 130 is suppressed. Othermethods of excluding the item 130 from search results 126 may also beused.

In box 312, merchants 105 corresponding to the suppressed items 130 areselected. These merchants 105 are selected based on a predefinedselection criterion. For example, certain merchants 105 may havepermissions necessary to edit an electronic catalog 127 entrycorresponding to the item 130 to supply missing information. Othercriteria may also be used to select the merchants 105.

In box 314, a notification 137 is communicated to a merchant associatedwith each suppressed item 130. In some embodiments, this is accomplishedby sending an email message to the merchant. In other embodiments, thisis accomplished by inserting a message into a network page served to themerchant client device 105. For example, when the merchant client device105 accesses a network page storefront associated with the electroniccommerce system 113 (FIG. 1), the network page server application 124(FIG. 1) serves the storefront network page with a message inserted intothe content. Other approaches and communications media may also be usedto communicate the notification to the merchant.

Moving on to FIG. 4, shown is a flowchart that provides one example ofthe operation of a portion of the search engine application 114 (FIG. 1)according to various embodiments. It is understood that the flowchart ofFIG. 4 provides merely an example of the many different types offunctional arrangements that may be employed to implement the operationof the portion of the search engine application 114 as described herein.As an alternative, the flowchart of FIG. 4 may be viewed as depicting anexample of steps of a method implemented in the computing device 101(FIG. 1) according to one or more embodiments.

Beginning with box 401, the search engine application 114 receives asearch query 125 (FIG. 1). This may have been communicated to the searchengine application 114 from a network page served by the network pageserver application 124 (FIG. 1). The search engine application 114 mayreceive a search query 125 in some other way.

In box 404, the search engine application 114 selects a pool of items130 (FIG. 1) from the electronic catalog 127 (FIG. 1) responsive to thesearch query 125. This may be accomplished by executing a function onthe search query 125 and the corpus of items 130. This may also beaccomplished by executing a function on the search query 125 and asearch index 136 (FIG. 1) associated with the electronic catalog 127.Other methods of selecting a pool of items 130 using the search query125 may also be used.

In box 407, suppressed items 130 are excluded from the pool of items130. In some embodiments, this occurs concurrently with the selection ofthe pool of items 130. For example, the function which selects the poolof items 130 may use a conditional restriction to only selectunsuppressed items 130. As another example, the plurality of items 130may be selected using a search index 136 which has been modified toexclude the suppressed items 130. In other embodiments, the suppresseditems 130 are removed from the pool of items 130 subsequent to selectingthe pool of items 130. For example, the search engine application 114may analyze the pool of items 130 and remove suppressed items 130. Otherapproaches of excluding suppressed items 130 may also be used.

In box 411, the pool of items 130 are provided to the network pageserver application 124 as search results 126. The network page serverapplication 124 may then encode the search results 126 into a networkpage to be served.

With reference to FIG. 5, shown is a schematic block diagram of thecomputing device 101 (FIG. 1) according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The computing device 101 includes at least one processorcircuit, for example, having a processor 501 and a memory 504, both ofwhich are coupled to a local interface 507. To this end, the computingdevice 101 may comprise, for example, at least one server computer orlike device. The local interface 507 may comprise, for example, a databus with an accompanying address/control bus or other bus structure ascan be appreciated.

Stored in the memory 504 are both data and several components that areexecutable by the processor 501. In particular, stored in the memory 504and executable by the processor 501 are a search engine application 114(FIG. 1) an item suppression application 117 (FIG. 1), an electroniccommerce system 113 (FIG. 1), a network page server application 124(FIG. 1), and potentially other applications. Also stored in the memory504 may be a data store 111 and other data. In addition, an operatingsystem may be stored in the memory 504 and executable by the processor501.

It is understood that there may be other applications that are stored inthe memory 504 and are executable by the processors 501 as can beappreciated. Where any component discussed herein is implemented in theform of software, any one of a number of programming languages may beemployed such as, for example, C, C++, C#, Objective C, Java,Javascript, Perl, PHP, Visual Basic, Python, Ruby, Delphi, Flash, orother programming languages.

A number of software components are stored in the memory 504 and areexecutable by the processor 501. In this respect, the term “executable”means a program file that is in a form that can ultimately be run by theprocessor 501. Examples of executable programs may be, for example, acompiled program that can be translated into machine code in a formatthat can be loaded into a random access portion of the memory 504 andrun by the processor 501, source code that may be expressed in properformat such as object code that is capable of being loaded into a randomaccess portion of the memory 504 and executed by the processor 501, orsource code that may be interpreted by another executable program togenerate instructions in a random access portion of the memory 504 to beexecuted by the processor 501, etc. An executable program may be storedin any portion or component of the memory 504 including, for example,random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard drive,solid-state drive, USB flash drive, memory card, optical disc such ascompact disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, magnetictape, or other memory components.

The memory 504 is defined herein as including both volatile andnonvolatile memory and data storage components. Volatile components arethose that do not retain data values upon loss of power. Nonvolatilecomponents are those that retain data upon a loss of power. Thus, thememory 504 may comprise, for example, random access memory (RAM),read-only memory (ROM), hard disk drives, solid-state drives, USB flashdrives, memory cards accessed via a memory card reader, floppy disksaccessed via an associated floppy disk drive, optical discs accessed viaan optical disc drive, magnetic tapes accessed via an appropriate tapedrive, and/or other memory components, or a combination of any two ormore of these memory components. In addition, the RAM may comprise, forexample, static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random accessmemory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM) and other suchdevices. The ROM may comprise, for example, a programmable read-onlymemory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), anelectrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or otherlike memory device.

Also, the processor 501 may represent multiple processors 501 and thememory 504 may represent multiple memories 504 that operate in parallelprocessing circuits, respectively. In such a case, the local interface507 may be an appropriate network 107 (FIG. 1) that facilitatescommunication between any two of the multiple processors 501, betweenany processor 501 and any of the memories 504, or between any two of thememories 504, etc. The local interface 507 may comprise additionalsystems designed to coordinate this communication, including, forexample, performing load balancing. The processor 501 may be ofelectrical or of some other available construction.

Although an item suppression application 117, and other various systemsdescribed herein may be embodied in software or code executed by generalpurpose hardware as discussed above, as an alternative the same may alsobe embodied in dedicated hardware or a combination of software/generalpurpose hardware and dedicated hardware. If embodied in dedicatedhardware, each can be implemented as a circuit or state machine thatemploys any one of or a combination of a number of technologies. Thesetechnologies may include, but are not limited to, discrete logiccircuits having logic gates for implementing various logic functionsupon an application of one or more data signals, application specificintegrated circuits having appropriate logic gates, or other components,etc. Such technologies are generally well known by those skilled in theart and, consequently, are not described in detail herein.

The flowcharts of FIGS. 3 and 4 show the functionality and operation ofan implementation of portions of the item suppression application 117 orsearch engine application 114, respectively. If embodied in software,each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code thatcomprises program instructions to implement the specified logicalfunction(s). The program instructions may be embodied in the form ofsource code that comprises human-readable statements written in aprogramming language or machine code that comprises numericalinstructions recognizable by a suitable execution system such as aprocessor 501 in a computer system or other system. The machine code maybe converted from the source code, etc. If embodied in hardware, eachblock may represent a circuit or a number of interconnected circuits toimplement the specified logical function(s).

Although the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 and 3 show a specific order ofexecution, it is understood that the order of execution may differ fromthat which is depicted. For example, the order of execution of two ormore blocks may be scrambled relative to the order shown. Also, two ormore blocks shown in succession in FIGS. 2 and 3 may be executedconcurrently or with partial concurrence. Further, in some embodiments,one or more of the blocks shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 may be skipped oromitted. In addition, any number of counters, state variables, warningsemaphores, or messages might be added to the logical flow describedherein, for purposes of enhanced utility, accounting, performancemeasurement, or providing troubleshooting aids, etc. It is understoodthat all such variations are within the scope of the present disclosure.

Also, any logic or application described herein, including an itemsuppression application, that comprises software or code can be embodiedin any non-transitory computer-readable medium for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system such as, for example, aprocessor 501 in a computer system or other system. In this sense, thelogic may comprise, for example, statements including instructions anddeclarations that can be fetched from the computer-readable medium andexecuted by the instruction execution system. In the context of thepresent disclosure, a “computer-readable medium” can be any medium thatcan contain, store, or maintain the logic or application describedherein for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem. The computer-readable medium can comprise any one of manyphysical media such as, for example, magnetic, optical, or semiconductormedia. More specific examples of a suitable computer-readable mediumwould include, but are not limited to, magnetic tapes, magnetic floppydiskettes, magnetic hard drives, memory cards, solid-state drives, USBflash drives, or optical discs. Also, the computer-readable medium maybe a random access memory (RAM) including, for example, static randomaccess memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), ormagnetic random access memory (MRAM). In addition, the computer-readablemedium may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory(PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), anelectrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or othertype of memory device.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations setforth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure.Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-describedembodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit andprinciples of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure andprotected by the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumembodying a program executable in a computing device, comprising: codethat selects an electronic category entry from an electronic catalog;code that selects a plurality of suppression rules based on a productcategory associated with the electronic catalog entry and a merchantassociated with the electronic catalog entry; code that determines ifthe electronic catalog entry is a suppressed entry by applying thesuppression rules to the electronic catalog entry; code that, inresponse to the electronic catalog entry being a suppressed entry,modifies a search index associated with the electronic catalog such thatthe electronic catalog entry is excluded from a search result when thesearch result is generated responsive to a search query applied to theelectronic catalog; code that, in response to the electronic catalogentry being a suppressed entry, communicates an email notificationmessage to the merchant; and wherein the suppression rules comprise atleast one of: a number of product returns or a number of customercomplaints corresponding to the electronic catalog entry meeting apredefined threshold, the electronic catalog entry lacking a requiredproduct information, or the electronic catalog entry lacking acorresponding image.
 2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, whereinthe suppression rules further define a maximum threshold of a metricassociated with the electronic catalog entry.
 3. The computer-readablemedium of claim 1, wherein the suppression rules further define amaximum threshold of customer complaints associated with the electroniccatalog entry.
 4. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, furthercomprising code that inserts a notification into a network pagecommunicated to the merchant, the notification indicating that theelectronic catalog entry has been suppressed.
 5. A system, comprising:at least one computing device; and a search result suppression functionexecutable in the at least one computing device, the search resultsuppression function comprising: logic that selects an item from anelectronic catalog; logic that selects a plurality of suppression rulesbased at least in part on an item category associated with the item anda merchant associated with the item; logic that determines if the itemis to be suppressed by applying the plurality of suppression rules tothe item; logic that, in response to a determination that the item is tobe suppressed, excludes the item from a search result responsive to asearch query applied to the electronic catalog; logic that, in inresponse to a determination that the item is to be suppressed,communicates a notification message to the merchant associated with theitem indicating that the item has been suppressed; and wherein theplurality of suppression rules comprise at least one of: a number ofproduct returns or a number of customer complaints corresponding to theitem meeting a predefined threshold, an electronic catalog entryassociated with the item lacking a required product information, or theelectronic catalog entry associated with the item lacking acorresponding image.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the plurality ofsuppression rules are further determined by the merchant.
 7. The systemof claim 5, wherein the logic that communicates a notification messageto the merchant further comprises logic that generates an email forcommunication to the merchant.
 8. The system of claim 5, wherein thelogic that communicates a notification message to the merchant furthercomprises logic that inserts the message into a network pagecommunicated to the merchant.
 9. The system of claim 5, wherein thelogic that excludes the item from the search result modifies a searchindex associated with the electronic catalog.
 10. The system of claim 5,wherein the logic that excludes the item from the search result modifiesan attribute of the electronic catalog entry associated with the item.11. The system of claim 5, wherein the merchant is one of a plurality ofmerchants, and the search result suppression function further comprisinglogic that selects the merchant from a plurality of merchants based on apredefined criterion.
 12. The system of claim 5, wherein thenotification message expresses a reasoning for the determination thatthe item is to be suppressed.
 13. A method, comprising: selecting, in acomputing device, a catalog entry from an electronic catalog; selecting,in the computing device, a plurality of suppression rules based at leastin part on a product category associated with the catalog entry and amerchant associated with the catalog entry; determining, in thecomputing device, whether the catalog entry meets a predefinedsuppression condition by applying the plurality of suppression rules tothe catalog entry; configuring, in the computing device, in response tothe catalog entry meeting the predefined suppression condition, theelectronic catalog to exclude the catalog entry from a search resultresponsive to a search query applied to the electronic catalog;communicating, in the computing device, a notification to a merchantcorresponding to the catalog entry in response to the catalog entrymeeting the predefined suppression condition; and wherein the predefinedsuppression condition at least one of: a number of product returns or anumber of customer complaints corresponding to the catalog entry meetinga predefined threshold, the catalog entry associated lacking a requiredproduct information, or the catalog entry lacking a corresponding image.14. The method of claim 13, wherein the electronic catalog furthercomprises a search index, and configuring the electronic catalog toexclude the catalog entry from a search result responsive to a searchquery applied to the electronic catalog comprises modifying the searchindex.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein configuring the electroniccatalog to exclude the catalog entry from a search result responsive toa search query applied to the electronic catalog comprises flagging thecatalog entry.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the merchant is oneof a plurality of merchants, and further comprising the step ofselecting, in a computing device, the merchant from a plurality ofmerchants based on a predefined criterion.
 17. The method of claim 13,wherein communicating the notification comprises generating an email forcommunication to the merchant.
 18. The method of claim 13, whereincommunicating the notification comprises inserting the notification intoa network page communicated to the merchant.
 19. The method of claim 13,wherein the notification expresses a reason that the catalog entry issuppressed.
 20. The method of claim 13, wherein the predefinedsuppression condition comprises a ration of page views to item purchasesassociated with the catalog entry meeting another threshold.